[sims] incompatible database summer update

[RichB]

Just a heads up people, ran the summer update today same old "incompatible database" error, que techs manually do the update!!!

 

Waste of time and effort are sims, they know the issue but dont solve it!

 

Not got time to rant, 600 Pc's to sort!

 

For those not knowing the fix you run the SimsApplicationSetup.exe in the simsroot folder.

[Steve21]

That's just when the versions of server to client are different isn't it? aka somethings not deploying properly.

 

Steve

[RichB]

Ours are the same, still got the issue had it 3 times now. Ever since they tried pushing solous 3 on me...

[Ashm]

You could try running SimsApplicationSetup.exe from a GPO startup script to save doing it manually. Try the following (may need to adjust the SIMSDirectory bit):

 

simsapplicationsetup.exe /S {QuietMode} {NoServerApps} [sIMSDirectory]="S:\SIMS"

[Cache]

Ours are the same, still got the issue had it 3 times now. Ever since they tried pushing solous 3 on me...

 

That might explain your problem.

 

Are you using Solus 3 to deploy the updates or have you got Solus 3 installed on your clients and your doing the updates through Solus 2?

 

If you have the Solus3 agent installed on a pc and are using Solus2 to deploy the updates on your server, then the Solus3 aspect of it disables SimsLoad.exe from checking the server for updates (hence having to manually update it) - this is the only way I can see of your solution of manually updating using SimsApplicationSetup working as that file no longer gets updated when you start using Solus3.

 

If not, how was Solus3 pushed on you and how does it currently sit in your network?

Edited July 25, 2013 by Cache

[Rawns]

Ours are the same, still got the issue had it 3 times now. Ever since they tried pushing solous 3 on me...

 

Bingo. There's your problem right there.

 

@Ashm - No good once SOLUS3 is in place. The setups folder becomes obsolete and is not updated.

 

Check to make sure ALL of your SIMS clients are defined within the SOLUS3 SIMS Client channel, otherwise they won't get SIMS upgrades. Also make sure they show as 'Online' in the UI. Keep aneye out for any communication error messages. Also, are you on the latest SOLUS3 release?

 

For those not knowing the fix you run the SimsApplicationSetup.exe in the simsroot folder.

 

I know when SOLUS3 gets put in a school, its a monster to get working, god knows I've spent many an hour pulling my hair out and cursing Capita over getting SOLUS3 working. However, running the SIMSApplicationSetup.exe from the Setups folder when your on SOLUS3 is a bit of a 'dirty' fix. The setups folder won't be around forever and I'm supposed that if you have SOLUS3 in school, you still get the upgrade via SOLUS2 too. It's upgrades like this that highlight issues with your setup, the environment, or SOLUS3 itself. Will running the SIMSApplicationSetup.exe get you up and running quickly? Yes. Will it help long term in making SOLUS3 more reliable for future upgrades? No. If you make changes to your environment, you'll only have to wait to the next upgrade to see if the changes have had any impact in deployment success.

 

I've come to terms with the fact that no matter how much I wish for it, Capita will not be binning SOLUS3 and everyone will at some point have to get it in place no matter what. Take these opportunities to learn and correct your environment to ensure the next upgrade does not hurt as much.

Edited July 25, 2013 by Rawns

[MrMat]

We've just had to deal with an abundance on Incompatible database errors after upgrading about 60 schools via Solus 3. As mentioned above this error is purely done to the workstation being 'out of date' in comparison to the server.

 

To resolve these errors we first tried to redeploy to see if that picked up any that were missed.

 

We then asked each school to create a list of badge numbers for those workstations that still werent working (there were two of us doing this and we split our upgrades so we had a maximum of 10 going per night over 6 days to soften the blow). We then checked these badge numbers to see if they were listed in our deployment service.

 

If they werent listed in the DS we simply added them to SOLUS. The agent downloads and the upgrade goes through.

 

If they were listed but still werent working it was usually because users either didn't see the warning upgrade message or just decided to ignore it completely and leave SIMS open. If SIMS is left open when the upgrade is due to go through the SIMS.net folder cannot be accessed and the upgrade will fail (obvious comment is obvious).

 

To resolve these - First find these comps in the Deployment Service and check the version number (view agent details). Important note, more often than not these workstations will still display 'Update was successfully installed' even though they have in fact failed (good old Capita eh). Get the user to get out of SIMS and then redeploy. Alternatively, get the user out of SIMS, open network path in explorer, locate the SIMS.Net folder and either delete it or rename it to 'SIMS.net old' or something similar, then connect to that workstations Services and restart the SOLUS3 agent service. The agent will then realise there's no SIMS.net folder and will download and install the correct version.

 

For us at least (besides a few abnormalities) SOLUS3 worked exactly as it should have and the vast majority of problems were down to user error or outdated information.

Edited July 25, 2013 by MrMat

[Rawns]

If they were listed but still werent working it was usually because users either didn't see the warning upgrade message or just decided to ignore it completely and leave SIMS open. If SIMS is left open when the upgrade is due to go through the SIMS.net folder cannot be accessed and the upgrade will fail (obvious comment is obvious).

 

To resolve these - First find these comps in the Deployment Service and check the version number (view agent details). Important note, more often than not these workstations will still display 'Update was successfully installed' even though they have in fact failed (good old Capita eh). Get the user to get out of SIMS and then redeploy. Alternatively, get the user out of SIMS, open network path in explorer, locate the SIMS.Net folder and either delete it or rename it to 'SIMS.net old' or something similar, then connect to that workstations Services and restart the SOLUS3 agent service. The agent will then realise there's no SIMS.net folder and will download and install the correct version.

 

You may be interested to know that if a user does have/leave SIMS .net open when the upgrade goes though on the workstation, the upgrade will actually complete successfully after a reboot, hence SOLUS3 returning the result of "Update successfully installed". It's a bit of a grey area because like you said, if you look at the agent info for a device and look at the version of SIMS .net, it will still show the version that has been left open, rather then the version that will be applied after the user reboots their device. But if you do see this, tell the user to reboot their workstation and when they try SIMS again, it will be working.

Edited July 25, 2013 by Rawns

[MrMat]

You may be interested to know that if a user does have/leave SIMS .net open when the upgrade goes though on the workstation, the upgrade will actually complete successfully after a reboot, hence SOLUS3 returning the result of "Update successfully installed". It's a bit of a grey area because like you said, if you look at the agent info for a device and look at the version of SIMS .net, it will still show the version that has been left open, rather then the version that will be applied after the user reboots their device. But if you do see this, tell the user to reboot their workstation and when they try SIMS again, it will be working.

 

Aha. I did not know that although actually now you've mentioned it it's obvious really as it's essentially doing the same thing i.e. restarting the agent.

[RichB]

Ours are the same, still got the issue had it 3 times now. Ever since they tried pushing solous 3 on me...

 

 

We have solus 3 but we dont use it, it has one PC attached. We use 2 and its always worked perfectly until they pushed 3 on us. Coincidence?

[matt40k]

So you upgrade via SOLUS2? Check a machine that doesn't upgrade. Open notepad then open SIMS.ini - check the SIMS Setups Directory is correct (ie the UNC path to the setups directory - such as \\server\capita$\setups). Next, check if the SOLUS3 agent is installed, if it is, remove it. I reckon someone been naughty and installed it on all your machines then removed from the UI, but not actually uninstalled it from all the clients.

[RichB]

I just use AB tutor log onto all machines as admin, and run the SimsSetupApplication.exe using a macro 30 minute job, then reboot them all. The fix is simple its capita that you go around in circles with beacuse they know the fault and do nothing about it.

 

This video always sums it up...

 

[matt40k]

Just look... personally I'd rather not have to do loads of boring repetitive work. If it does have the S3 agent installed, removing it will fix it. Assuming the sims.ini hasn't been mangled.

 

Yer saw the video, kinda funny, but rather sad at the same time - I mean IT folk standing in the way of progress?? Bah, give me the new stuff any day, especially when it comes with nice new hardware as well lol

[Rawns]

I mean IT folk standing in the way of progress??

 

If SOLUS3 is progress, then I want no part in IT.

 

If you want me, I'll be living as a hermit on a small island off Scotland and you can contact me with smoke signals....

[matt40k]

I think you're forgetting how bad SOLUS2 is...

 

It's like when WinXP came out and people said how awesome Win98 was.

 

(Sorry, I've been told I'm not allowed to start a fire on the car park roof in attempt to transmit this message via smoke signals)

[Rawns]

I think you're forgetting how bad SOLUS2 is...

 

It's like when WinXP came out and people said how awesome Win98 was.

 

(Sorry, I've been told I'm not allowed to start a fire on the car park roof in attempt to transmit this message via smoke signals)

 

Not at all. Personally, I think SOLUS2 worked a treat and it still does at the schools that use it. Sure, it can't manage discover upgrades, but for SIMS and FMS, it works like a dream. Some clever CentraStage scripting means additional databases get upgraded too. Our upgrade record was 3 days for SIMS and FMS in 270 schools which included mopping up of the odd failure.

 

I cant see SOLUS3 ever managing that.

Edited July 26, 2013 by Rawns

[matt40k]

It's possible, assuming you could get them all to agree to let you upgrade them at once - not many LA you could get that many schools to agree!! CentraStage is a powerful tool, pretty much possible with that - Windows InTune is Microsoft attempt at entering that market. CentraStage has the advantage that it's older and therefore more mature, it's also a premium tool, you pay for it, unlike SOLUS3 which has to fight for resources - let's face it, Capita would rather change the icons, fonts then actually do anything useful like fixing the bugs.

 

From my point of view, I started out using SOLUS2 and we had some really weird issues and it took at months to roll out an update, when I left it was days with SOLUS3 - even with re-releases!! From a coding point of view, S2 was good for the time, but it's been abandoned and unloved for too long.